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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bank · arm · mine · tube · chest · degree · bat · squash

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bank — for money
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bank — for money
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. tube — a container
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bank — of a river
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. tube — the underground
  14. degree — an amount
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. squash — the sport
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. chest — a box
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com